Department of Health Professions

Internships provide an opportunity for students to integrate their didactic course work into a real world situation. Students are given the chance to apply the principles, theories and techniques learned during coursework to actual health care management situations. It is crucial that students use the internship experience as a way to gain insight and experience in the field. Completing a field experience is a requirement of all graduating students at MSU Denver. Furthermore, AUPHA (our certifying organization) requires that students in all certified Health Care Management programs complete a faculty supervised field internship.

Health Care Management Internship (HCM 4610)

The internship is the senior experience that serves as the culmination of the Health Care Management Program. A total of 150 hours will be completed during the internship. The student will complete a variety of deliverables including a journal documenting the experiences gained throughout the internship, a presentation illustrating the internship outcomes, and a final portfolio.

Goals of the Internship:

The intern will complete objectives (projects) in the area of health care management and not just assigned daily administrative tasks, like filing.

Ideally, the objectives should be something meaningful that will help the organization, as well as help the student.

The intern should be exposed to the functioning and administration of as much of the organization as possible.

The Internship experience should expose students to real world situations prior to launching their career in health care management.

Duration and Timing:

During the internship process student must complete a minimum of 150 field hours.

Please note that this represents the minimum number of hours that must be completed.

It is possible that a student may need or want to do more and this is acceptable.

This hour total applies regardless of the semester in which the student does the Internship.

Important to note:

All internships must be within a health care organization.

Completing your internship at your place of employment is highly discouraged.

The only time this is ever considered a possibility is if you work for a very large organization and you are able to find an internship in a different department/office, completing projects/objectives that have nothing to do with your current job, and with a preceptor who is not your boss or responsible for your employment in any way.

Health Care Internship Placements

Kaiser Permanente: Small and Large Group Underwriting Department Readiness

Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America: Advocacy Research for Uninsured and Underinsured

Apria Healthcare: Increasing Quality of Customer Service Between Offshore Partners & Patients at Home